• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.231-244
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• 2001

The strengthening of reinforced concrete structures using externally bonded steel or advanced fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) composites is becoming increasingly common. A key factor affecting the behaviour and reliability of such strengthened structures is the bond strength between the steel or FRP plate and the concrete substrate. Several different experimental set-ups have previously been used to determine bond strength. This paper presents a careful finite element analysis of the stress distributions in these test set-ups. Results show that stress distributions can be significantly different for different set-ups, for similar materials and geometry.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제69권2호
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• pp.163-175
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• 2019

Structural deterioration arises due to aging, environmental effects, deficiencies during design and construction phase, and overloading. Experimental and numerical investigations are carried out in this study to evaluate the performance of control and flexural deficient reinforced concrete (RC) beams under monotonic loading. Three levels of flexural deficiency are considered in this study. After confirming load carrying capacities of control and flexural deficient beams, the flexural deficient RC beams are strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabric. CFRP strengthened RC beams are tested under monotonic loading and compared with the performance of control specimen. Further, non-linear finite element analyses are also carried out to evaluate the flexural performance of control, deficient and CFRP strengthened flexural deficient RC beams. There is good correlation between results of experimental and numerical investigations. Numerical approach presented in this study can be adopted for assessing the adequacy of CFRP retrofit measure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제82권6호
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• pp.691-699
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• 2022

This paper is devoted to the presentation of a numerical study on vibration behavior of composite panels reinforced by glass fibres and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) subjected to thermal environments. The effect of temperature variation has been included as thermal load acting on in-plane direction of the panel. To model the composite material, a micromechanical model which contains random dispersion of nanotubes and single-direction fibers has been selected. The geometry of the panel has been considered to have a single curveture along its width. Based on the above assumptions, the governing equations have been derived by using thin shell theory capturing the panel curveture and also nonlinear deflections. Finally, the panel dependence on various factors such as the curveture, nanotube amount, fiber volume, fiber direction and temperature variation has been researched.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제3권6호
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• pp.421-438
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• 2003

Aging and deterioration of existing steel structures necessitate the development of simple and efficient rehabilitation techniques. The current study investigates a methodology to enhance the flexural capacity of steel beams by bonding Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) sheets to their flanges. A heavy duty adhesive, tested in a previous study is used to bond the steel and the GFRP sheet. In addition to its ease of application, the GFRP sheet provides a protective layer that prevents future corrosion of the steel section. The study reports the results of bending tests conducted on a W-shaped steel beam before and after rehabilitation using GFRP sheets. Enhancement in the moment capacity of the beam due to bonding GFRP sheet is determined from the test results. A closed form analytical model that can predict the yield moment as well as the stresses induced in the adhesive and the GFRP sheets of rehabilitated steel beam is developed. A detailed finite element analysis for the tested specimens is also conducted in this paper. The steel web and flanges as well as the GFRP sheets are simulated using three-dimensional brick elements. The shear and peel stiffness of the adhesive are modeled as equivalent linear spring systems. The analytical and experimental results indicate that a significant enhancement in the ultimate capacity of the steel beam is achieved using the proposed technique. The finite element analysis is employed to describe in detail the profile of stresses and strains that develop in the rehabilitated steel beam.

• Computers and Concrete
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• 제19권5호
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• pp.579-588
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• 2017

Creep and shrinkage are the main types of volume change with time in concrete. These changes cause deflection, cracking and stresses that affect durability, serviceability, long-term reliability and structural integrity of civil engineering infrastructure. Although laboratory test may be undertaken to determine the deformation properties of concrete, these are time-consuming, often expensive and generally not a practical option. Therefore, relatively simple empirically design code models are relied to predict the creep strain. This paper reviews the accuracy of creep and shrinkage predictions of reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls structures strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates, which is characterized by a widthwise varying fibre volume fraction. This review is yielded by three commonly used international "code type" models. The assessed are the: CEB-FIP MC 90 model, ACI 209 model and Bazant & Baweja (B3) model. The time-dependent behavior was investigated to analyze their seismic behavior. In the numerical formulation, the adherents and the adhesives are all modelled as shear wall elements, using the mixed finite element method. Several tests were used to demonstrate the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed method. Numerical results from the present analysis are presented to illustrate the significance of the time-dependency of the lateral displacements and eigenfrequencies modes.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.269-282
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• 2015

Civil structures should be designed with the lowest cost and longest lifetime possible and without service failure. The efficient and sustainable use of materials in building design and construction has always been at the forefront for civil engineers and environmentalists. Timber is one of the best contenders for these purposes particularly in terms of aesthetics; fire protection; strength-to-weight ratio; acoustic properties and seismic resistance. In recent years, timber has been used in commercial and taller buildings due to these significant advantages. It should be noted that, since the launch of the modern building standards and codes, a number of different structural systems have been developed to stabilise steel or concrete multistorey buildings, however, structural analysis of high-rise and multi-storey timber frame buildings subjected to lateral loads has not yet been fully understood. Additionally, timber degradation can occur as a result of biological decay of the elements and overloading that can result in structural damage. In such structures, the deficient members and joints require strengthening in order to satisfy new code requirements; determine acceptable level of safety; and avoid brittle failure following earthquake actions. This paper investigates performance assessment and damage assessment of older multi-storey timber buildings. One approach is to retrofit the beams in order to increase the ductility of the frame. Experimental studies indicate that Sprayed Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) repairing/retrofitting not only updates the integrity of the joint, but also increases its strength; stiffness; and ductility in such a way that the joint remains elastic. Non-linear finite element analysis ('pushover') is carried out to study the behaviour of the structure subjected to simulated gravity and lateral loads. A new global index is re-assessed for damage assessment of the plain and SFRP-retrofitted frames using capacity curves obtained from pushover analysis. This study shows that the proposed method is suitable for structural damage assessment of aged timber buildings. Also SFRP retrofitting can potentially improve the performance and load carrying capacity of the structure.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.547-557
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• 2020

This paper presents one of the demonstration projects undertaken during the FP7 EU-funded Anagennisi project (Innovative reuse of all tyre components in concrete-2014-2017) on a full-scale (30 m×40 m, thickness: 0.2 m) Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) slab-on-grade using a blend of manufactured steel fibres (MSF) and Recycled Tyre Steel Fibres (RTSF). The aim of the project was to assess the use of RTSF in everyday construction practice. The Anagennisi partners, Dulex Ltd in collaboration with Gradmont-Gradacac Ltd and University of Zagreb, designed, cast and monitored the long-term shrinkage deformations of the indoor slab-on-grade slab at Gradmont's precast concrete factory in Gradacac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A hybrid RTSF mix (20 kg/㎥ of MSF+10 kg/㎥ of RTSF) was used to comply with the design criteria which included a maximum load capacity of 20 kN/㎡. The slab was monitored for one year using surveying equipment and visual inspection of cracks. During the monitoring period, the slab exhibited reasonable deformations (a maximum displacement of 3.3 mm for both, horizontal and vertical displacements) whilst after five years in use, the owners did not report any issues and were satisfied with the construction methodology and materials used. This work confirms that RSTF is a viable and sustainable solution for slab-on-grade applications.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.355-368
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• 2022

This paper investigates the impact of length and volume fractions (VFs) of banana fibres (BFs) on the mechanical and physical properties of concrete. The mechanical properties were compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress, while the physical properties were unit weight and absorption. The slump test was used to determine workability. The concrete's behaviour with BFs was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Experimental work of concrete mixtures with BFs of various lengths (12 mm, 25 mm, and 35 mm) and VFs (0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5%) were carried out. The samples did not indicate any agglomeration of fibres or heterogeneity during mixing. The addition of BFs to concrete with VFs of up to 1.50% for all fibre lengths have a significant impact on mechanical properties, also the longer fibres performed better than shorter ones at all volume fractions of BFs. The mix10, which contain BFs with VFs 1.5% and length 35 mm, demonstrated the highest mechanical properties. The compressive strength, splitting tensile, flexural strength, and bond stress of the mix10 were 37.71 MPa, 4.27 Mpa, 6.12 MPa, and 6.75 MPa, an increase of 7.37%, 20.96%, 24.13%, and 11.2% over the reference concrete, which was 35.12 MPa, 3.53 MPa, 4.93 MPa, and 6.07 MP, respectively. The absorption is increased for all lengths by increasing the VFs up to 1.5%. Longer fibres have lower absorption, while shorter fibres have higher absorption. The mix8 had the highest absorption of 4.52%, compared to 3.12% for the control mix. Furthermore, the microstructure of concrete was improved through improved bonding between the fibres and the matrix, which resulted in improved mechanical properties of the composite.

• 대한치과보철학회지
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• 제40권5호
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• pp.429-440
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• 2002

Current dental restorations present a relatively weak resistance to fracture. Owing to their unique mechanical properties, fibre-reinforced polymers are now being considered. Unidirectional or woven continuous fibres, made of glass, polyethylene, carbon or Kevlar, have been evaluated. This study focused on the use of glass fibre knitted fabrics to reinforce acrylate resins, in order to investigate the possibility to construct single crowns as well as three unit bridges. Some points affecting the final composite system were tested ; 1) static strength, with focus on the stress transfer under a occlusal contact point ; 2) modelling of a three nit bridge ; 3) fatigue strength as a posterior three unit bridge material. The study demonstrated that knitted fabric reinforcements are showing an interesting compromise between stiffness, static strength for single crown. For three unit bridge applications in the posterior arch, however knitted glass fabric reinforcements were not strong enough in fatigue An additional reinforcement in the posterior arch fixed partial denture design was recommended.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제42권4호
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• pp.551-570
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• 2012

An experimental program was carried out to investigate the influence of fibre reinforcement on the mechanical behaviour of high strength reinforced concrete beams. Eighteen beams, loaded in four-point bending tests, were examined by applying monotonically increasing controlled displacements and recording the response in terms of load-deflection curves up to failure. The major test variables were the volume fraction of steel fibres and the transverse steel amount for two different values of shear span. The contribution of the stirrups to the shear strength was derived from the deformations of their vertical legs, measured by means of strain gauges. The structural response of the tested beams was analyzed to evaluate strength, stiffness, energy absorption capacity and failure mode. The experimental results and observed behaviour are in good agreement with those obtained by other authors, confirming that an adequate amount of steel fibres in the concrete can be an alternative solution for minimizing the density of transverse reinforcement. However, the paper shows that the use of different theoretical or semi-empirical models, available in literature, leads to different predictions of the ultimate load in the case of dominant shear failure mode.